Burnt out van: Sean and Jay Maddox with son Freddie pointing at their burnt out van. (Image: Dan Westwell)

Mrs Maddox, a full-time mum, said: "When it happened to us it was devastating, it destroyed our livelihood.

"Afterwards it left us feeling scared and on edge. 'Why would they target us?', I kept thinking.

"It happened near bonfire night, too, so every time a bang went off I'd be up thinking something had happened again. I was so jumpy.

"Arson is such a selfish crime, and leaves victims in tatters."

Crew manager Graham Picker, from Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue's service prevention team said: "As a service we take deliberate fires extremely seriously – not only do they endanger life, they can also cause serious damage to people’s property and delay our crews when it comes to responding to more serious incidents.

"The service’s prevention team, along with crews from across the county, work hard to follow-up on this type of fire to try and determine the underlying factors behind the incidents and how, through working together, we can prevent such incidents occurring again through joint intervention."